THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



87 



brown. These specks are quite thick at the 

 larger end and on some specimens become 

 nearly confluent. 



Average measurements .68X.53 inches. 



The eggs are readily distinguishable from 

 those of the other Flycatchers, with the 

 exception of the eastern variety of this 

 species, whose eggs are identical (we have 

 sets of both varieties to which the identifi- 

 cation is 2)ositiTe.) 



P. McF. B., Atlanta, Ga.— The bird 

 that is often called '"Hed-bird," "Scarlet 

 Sparrows etc., in the south, of which you 

 give the following description, is the Sum- 

 mer Red-bird. 



" The male bird is about the size of a Cat- 

 bird, he is red colored and has a crest on 

 the back of his head. The female is of a 

 yellowish color, without the crest. The 

 nest is very .simple in construction, being 

 always placed on a horizontal limb of a 

 scrub tree, generally an oak. It is built of 

 twigs, lined with a yellowish straw. The 

 eggs are about the size of a Red-headed 

 Woodpecker's egg, and of the saHie color as a 

 Chipping Sparrows, thicklj^ spotted and 

 blotched around the large end with brown- 

 ish blotches. 



In regard to Sparrows query see answer 

 to E. T. A, New York city. 



J. E. McK., Philladelphia, Pa.— The 

 Fish Crow is smaller than our common 

 Crow, and is a martime bird, a habitant of 

 the south Atlantic and Gulf Coast, in the 

 south east, and of the Pacific Coast from 

 Oregon to Alaska in the northwest. 



Take Notice. 



The eggs of Lawrence's Goldfinch are 

 not blue. Various California collectors 

 have sent Arkansas Goldfinch eggs broad- 

 cast over the country under the name of 

 Lawrence's. We have had numbers of 

 blue ones sent us, but coming from collec- 

 tors who did not take skins as well as eggs, 

 we alw^aj'^s refused them. We lately re- 

 ceived white eggs from an esteemed collec- 

 tor, and in reply to a note written by us to 

 William Brewster, he writes, "The eggs 

 of Lawrence's Goldfinch are always pure 

 white, despite what Coues affirms in his new 

 "Key."' — Random Notes on Natural His- 

 tory. 



An Oological Surprise. 



"On the 21st of July a friend gave me an 

 egg of the chipping sparrow. It had been 

 droped into the grass and shaken, but not 

 broken. I wraped it in cotton and put it 

 into a*small tin box, as I was just starting 

 out collecting and had not time to blow it 

 then. The next morning when I opened 

 the box the lai-ge end of' the egg came ofE 

 and there was a young bird with open 

 mouth asking for breakfast. It Avas taken 

 back to the nest. M. C. 



Eau Claire, Wis. 



Late Nesting — Ground Dove. 



I found a nest of the Ground Dove in a 

 orange tree, six feet from the ground on 

 Sept. 11th, incubation advanced. The nest 

 was composed of a few straws and grasses 

 placed on the top of an old Mocking-bird's 

 nest. In this locality the Ground Dove 

 usually nests on the ground. Their nest 

 usually consists of a slight cavity scratched 

 in the groimd, lined with grass and roots. 

 Should you go near tlie nest the old bird 

 will fly off and flutter around as if she had 

 broken her wing, in fact, I have seen per- 

 sons try to catch them. I have found their 

 nests as early as May 1st. But few birds 

 lay here later than June, and with this ex- 

 ception I have never taken eggs later than 

 July. 



If any collector has ever found a nest 

 later than Sept. 11 let us hear from them 

 through this paper. J. S. H. 



Tampa, Fla. 



Doubtless hundreds of our readers have 

 noticed the advertisement of Mr.nV. W. 

 Osgoodby, which appears in the Young 

 OoLOGiST. Mr. O. has been the'oflacial 

 stenographer for the New York Supreme 

 Court for the last 22 years. And we, hav- 

 ing faith and fully believing that he will 

 do just what he says he will in his circulars 

 and advertisement, most cordially endorse 

 the folloAving extract from the Rochester 

 Commercial Rem'ew: "We stake our repu- 

 tation on the statement that he will do pre- 

 cisely as he advertises. Mr. Osgoodby is 

 not only all his advertisement claims for 

 him, as a reporter, but he is one of the re- 

 liable men of Rochester. This statement 

 is made for the benefit of those who do not 

 know him. In this judicial district he does 

 not require the endorsement of anybody. 

 Everybody who wishes a knowledge of 

 short-hand should send for the book, and 

 thus secure a practical idea of it at merely 

 nominal expense." 



